Monday Apple Rumors: iPad Mini Invites to Mail on Oct. 10

The smaller-screen iPad will be unveiled on October 17

Coming Attraction: Invitations for an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) media event announcing the debut of the iPad Mini will be mailed on October 10, Fortune notes. An unnamed “major Apple investor” says that the company will hold a media event, mostly likely on October 17, to unveil the smaller iPad. Given that time frame, the iPad Mini could hit store shelves as early as November 2. The smaller iPad is expected to feature a 7.85-inch screen. Apple has neither confirmed nor denied speculation about a smaller-screen iPad, but analysts widely expect the company to produce one in order to fend of downmarket competition from 7-inch tablets from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

Changed Marketing: With CEO Tim Cook’s apology last week to iOS 6 users over the quality of the company’s new Maps app still reverberating, Apple has quietly changed the description of the app on its website, the Los Angeles Times notes. Previously, the website called the new maps app the “most beautiful, powerful mapping service ever.” Over the weekend, that description changed to read: “all in a beautiful vector-based interface that scales and zooms with ease.” Earlier this year, Apple dumped Google’s long-established maps program from the back-end of iOS 6, replacing it with an in-house developed app. Reports say that Apple made the switch after Google declined to provide voice navigation for the app. Users complained about errors and glitches in the new app, leading to a statement asking for patience, and ultimately Cook’s admission that the app wasn’t up to Apple standards.

Radio Silence: Apple’s rumored plans to introduce streaming music service to rival Pandora (NYSE:P) have hit a major road block, the Columbus Dispatch says. Talks with Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) music joint venture, Sony/ATV, for rights to music to be streamed over the service have broken down over the fees Apple would have to pay. The purchase of EMI Music Publishing back in June gave Sony control over the world’s largest catalog of popular songs.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.